Okay, so I need some help here. I decided to read this next week's Torah portion this morning while everyone else was able to still be sleeping. In Sh'mot 32, Aharon gathers the gold earrings, etc. and he melted them down and made them into the shape of a calf. However, later in that chapter when Aharon is explaining to Moshe what happened, he says that they gave him the gold, he threw it into the fire and "out came this calf!"
To my mind, Aharon is not exactly telling the truth here. He's the High Priest, right? Isn't that what transpired in this past week's Torah portion? It just seems that either Aharon is telling a bold-faced lie, or he's lying by omission.
Would appreciate any other insights on this.
Thanks!
JO
I got this from my Stone Chumash ..
And [he] fashioned it. Aaron bound up the gold and threw it into the fire [hoping that a shapeless mass would emerge, thus causing further delay until Moses' return], but the Egyptian sorcerers of the Eirev Rav exercised their occult powers to cause the calf to emerge (Rashi). Although Aaron did not fashion the calf in the literal sense he is described as its maker since he was the one who threw the gold into the fire (v. 24), the act that resulted in the creation of the Golden Calf (Or Chaim).